Falling Sand
by ForestFireSong
Summary: Lovino knew that he'd do anything to reverse that horrible moment in time, anything to prevent that car from slamming into Antonio's body and spattering blood everywhere- not considering the consequences that would come from trying to gain a happy end.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Voila, a new story! Warning- This is somewhat similar to Kagerou Daze and HetaOni, which is partially why the former makes a great background song while reading. **

_Come to think of it, Antonio was smiling. _

Lovino trotted alongside Antonio, holding one of the bags with their gardening supplies and listening to his boyfriend chatter on about how excited he was that they were going to be planting more vegetables, not just tomatoes, and how he'd make Lovino the best salad when they'd grown and a multitude of other things. Lovino would occasionally add his own comment (usually something sharp-sounding but with little malice) but Antonio carried the conversation mostly on his own.

It was how they worked, one of the reasons that they could fit so well together. Antonio didn't mind talking to someone who didn't always talk back, and always found something exciting in even the smallest thing. Lovino didn't always feel like talking, and was usually content to just listen to Antonio's cheerful voice fill the air. He didn't even mind that Antonio had taken his hand- at least he didn't swing both their arms up and down the way Feliciano did.

People bustled around them, on their way to their usual Saturday afternoon activities. The sunlight splashed light on the pavement in front of them, filtered between the trees. They arrived at a crosswalk, and Lovino could see the bright awning of a cafe across from them. He wondered if Antonio would want to stop there for lunch, and was planning to ask him when time stopped.

_One second…._

Lovino's head turned from looking at the cafe and looked at the street.

_Two seconds…_

An car was hurtling towards them. It was a simple fact stated in Lovino's mind, his mind not quite processing that it was speeding and not stopping.

_Three seconds…._

Other people were talking, but their voices seemed louder. They pounded in Lovino's skull. His hand was suddenly released from Antonio's.

_Four seconds…_

An arm shoved Lovino, and the world resumed its normal flow, its previous honey-like version melting away into stark reality. However, this version of reality was different from what Lovino had experienced before time stopped.

He hit the pavement and rolled instinctively. This reality was loud and moved fast and was filled with a heightened sense of terror. He could hear people's screams of shock, the squealing of brakes.

And almost as quickly as time had resumed its normal function, so did Lovino's mind. It flooded into him all at once, the fallen bags of seeds and spades, a tossed aside bag of fertilizer. The piercing sound of his own name emerged as a memory. Lovino rolled over slowly, looking back to the crosswalk. The crosswalk….

"ANTONIO!"

* * *

"_Cazzo, cazzo, cazzo…." _Lovino repeated frantically, pacing back and forth, He clutched at his hair, running a hand through it before dropping it to his side and clenching both into fists. His breathing was too fast, he knew that, but he couldn't stop gasping for air. He couldn't make sense of the situation at all.

"Calm down, Lovi, calm down…"

"_Mierde, _Feli, how can I calm down? Oh God, oh my God…"

Somehow he was in Feliciano and Ludwig's house, except Ludwig had put the dogs and one cat outside and there was no pasta cooking, only Feli holding back tears and trying to talk soothingly to Lovino and Ludwig standing by the phone, his normally serious expression now incredibly grave.

What had happened? There had been blood, a lot of blood. And a car. And people talking frantically and sirens and...and Antonio. Lovino squeezed his eyes shut. It wouldn't disappear. The image was burned into his eyes. What had happened? What had happened to their day? It didn't make sense. Antonio had been smiling. Lovino could picture it clearly. And then suddenly there was blood.

Maybe somewhere, in the back of his mind, Lovino knew what had happened. He knew how Antonio had seen the car coming, and how he'd pushed Lovino out of the way. But Lovino, his mind in its current jumbled, panicked state, didn't believe it. Because _how _could Antonio be dead?

He'd been smiling.

Feli's arm was on Lovino's shoulder, and he could hear his brother's voice, for once completely calm in an emergency. But Lovino didn't hear the words- all he could hear was the small moan that rose in his throat as he sunk to his knees.

Then Lovino remembered.

There was one more thing. It had simply appeared in Lovino's hands at the scene of the accident, or maybe it had been next to him. No matter where Lovino had gotten it, it was an object one would not normally expect to be rolling around randomly. It was a small hourglass, nothing fancy about the design, but some part of Lovino's mind had acknowledged it as important, and, in his last act of rational thinking, had slipped it into his pocket just as the ambulance had arrived.

And just like that, one thought of the memory sent Lovino's mind spiraling into confusion and denial once again. _"Nothing we can do to save him." "He was killed instantly when the car hit him." "What a tragedy…" _

_Did I tell you that I loved you that day? I can't remember. I usually forget in the mornings. Did I forget that day? I shouldn't have. Because that would've been the greatest mistake ever. _

Even with Feli rubbing his back soothingly, and Ludwig in the kitchen, preparing some tea or something to calm him, the only relief Lovino garner came from running his fingers over the cool glass of the hourglass.

* * *

The sun was too bright outside. It beamed in through the windows of the guest room, where Lovino lay on his back, a hand flopped lazily over his forehead as he gazed at the plain ceiling. The room was decorated quite cheerfully, in playful shades of bright green, as Feliciano's infatuation with interior decorating went.

The color was painful enough. Bright green was Antonio's eyes, the grapes that he loved (but not nearly as much as tomatoes). Sometimes Lovino would wake up to an empty bed and stare outside to see a brilliantly green garden illuminated by sunlight, and Antonio crouched in it, tending to the plants.

For some reason, Lovino wasn't crying. He'd cried slightly before, in the early hours of the morning lying in bed, when he was barely awake and slipping off into sleep. But it hadn't happened since or before then. And he wasn't screaming either, and found that the need to curse had faded slightly. He felt numb and frozen.

Lovino rolled over, closing his eyes. He couldn't see the clock's red numbers, but he knew what time it was. The time when Antonio would excitedly rush to the living room and plant himself in front of the television to watch the ridiculously dramatic and cheesy soap operas that he loved.

In fact, Lovino had once found Antonio sobbing about the ending of his soap, only to be pleased when an equally sappy one aired the next week. While Lovino had caught a few episodes-only because the _idiota _had begged him- he'd been fed up with the love lives and secret twins and couldn't fathom what Antonio found worthy of crying over.

There was a knock on the door, and Lovino raised his head, saying listlessly, "Come in."

Feliciano entered, a nervous smile on his face and his steps quick and precise. He'd practically been walking on eggshells the past two days since the accident, which was logical, except Lovino couldn't feel the energy to snap at anyone, even Ludwig.

"I made some pasta, Lovi, would you like some?" Feli always cooked when he was upset. Even though it was lunchtime, Feli had already made pasta for breakfast and would probably continue cooking for the rest of the day. Ludwig had relinquished control of the kitchen for the next few days or so.

Lovino had already eaten some pasta in the morning, which, he supposed, was progress, or at least in Feli's eyes. But he didn't particularly feel like eating at the moment Shaking his head, Lovino replied, "No thanks, Feliciano."

Nodding, Feli turned towards the door. For a moment, he glanced back, and Lovino knew that some part of his brother wanted to come over and hug him, or try to talk about his feelings. But the moment passed, and Feli seemed to be aware that Lovino wasn't in the mood for anything, and the door closed and the sound of Feli's steps faded down the staircase.

Lovino turned his eyes back towards the ceiling. The day after the accident- accidents could be fixed, mistakes could be redone, right?- Feli had asked if he'd wanted to stay in his house- the house he and Antonio shared. Used to share. _Shared. Shared. _

Just the thought of it made Lovino sick, though, literal sick like he wanted to throw up and hide under the covers of the bed forever, so he'd ended up staying with Feliciano and Ludwig. And he didn't mind- he was grateful to them. But seeing Ludwig and Feliciano together hurt, and it wasn't out of jealousy. Because they clearly adored each other, and Lovino had just experienced how easily things you loved could slip out of your hands.

The curtains hung limply by the window, and the air was completely still. Lovino reached into his pocket, pulling out the hourglass he'd found at the scene of the accident. His brow furrowed as he studied it, rubbing the glass. He didn't understand where he'd gotten it, but for the past few days, at the most random of moments, he'd pulled it out to look at it.

Lovino gazed at the hourglass, and then turned it over, watching the first grain of sand fall from the mound at the bottom and to the other side.

And then the world abruptly disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

A breeze ruffled the leaves of the trees overhead and the blades of grass in a park not too far off. It was a cheerful, sunny Saturday. Lovino opened his eyes and glanced around. He was walking along the sidewalk, carrying a bag of garden supplies, and beside him was…

Lovino's eyes widened and he nearly dropped the bag. _Antonio. _Walking and talking like nothing had happened, he was gorgeous in the sunlight, his brown curls falling in his face, his green eyes flashing, and he didn't even know. He didn't know the way Lovino had replayed his smile over and over in his head the past few days, the last one Antonio had ever given him. Lovino thought he was going to choke, and before he could stop himself, he grabbed Antonio and hugged him.

They had been walking in the middle of a mildly busy sidewalk, and people were probably staring at Lovino's sudden and hasty action. But Lovino didn't care, he only wrapped his arms around Antonio and pressed his face in his neck and gave himself one second, two, before he began to think.

Clearly something had happened, something drastic, for Antonio, who had been struck by a car only two days earlier, to be alive and warm and real and right in front of Lovino. Something had happened, and Lovino had no idea what. It didn't make sense, and he wondered if he was hallucinating, maybe, or if he had fallen into a strange dream. But it was hard to say that when the warmth of sunlight was on his back, and he could hear the sounds of cars passing by and people calling out to each other. Antonio was as solid as he ever was, and Lovino felt a breeze lifting the hair off the back of his neck. He was either in an _extremely_ vivid dream, or….

_Accidents could be fixed, mistakes could be redone, right? _

Lovino's heart quickened and he felt his breath catch. It wasn't possible. Clearly the grief was getting to him and this was an incredibly fantastical dream. But the very possibility that Lovino could do it all over- that he could avoid that horrible moment and continue the whole wonderful day with Antonio- it was too good to be true, yet it was happening.

"Ah...Lovi?" Antonio's voice had a laugh in it, like it usually did, but he sounded vaguely confused. "Why are you hugging me…? I thought you didn't like it when we hugged in public."

And Antonio didn't _know, _there was no way he could know, because Lovino was the only one who did. No one else could be aware, Lovino realized, because this was _his _chance to do things over. And he couldn't let Antonio know, he could only keep up his facade of normalcy until the whole horrible day was over and he could rest assured that the accident wouldn't happen.

Quickly detaching himself from Antonio, Lovino felt a blush rise to his face and shook it off, turning away from Antonio so said person couldn't see. "I just...I….whatever, _bastardo."_

Antonio laughed- brightly, joyously, it was so real that Lovino almost felt his heart stop- and smiled at him. "Don't worry Lovi, you can hug me whenever you want- you don't need to have a reason!"

"S-shut up!"

"Aw, now you're red like a tomato."

The conversation carried on as the maneuvered the streets carrying the bags from the gardening store; Lovino marveled at the tranquility of the afternoon, that he had been laying in state of grief only minutes before whatever it was had happened.

All of Lovino's thoughts traced back to the strange hourglass that had appeared before Lovino just after the accident. The way he had suddenly been taken back to that Saturday just after turning it over and watching the falling sand. Anyone would've been suspicious; and Lovino did have a nagging doubt just in the back of his mind about the extremely odd circumstances, but the relief that filled his chest and head were enough to chase away most of it. This time, he would do it right. This time, no one would get hurt.

As they walked, Lovino realized that they were heading in the direction of home- and, by extension, the fated crosswalk. He felt that feeling when ice slowly spreads through one's stomach, the gradual and paralyzing terror. He couldn't go back there. He couldn't let that happen again. Just thinking of reliving the moment made Lovino's stomach curl in on itself. This was it- the moment that changed everything. "_Mierde!"_

"What was that?" Antonio turned curiously to Lovino and he sweared softly again, this time low enough that Antonio didn't hear. He racked his mind for some excuse, some reason not to go the crosswalk where Antonio would inevitably meet the same fate as earlier. Lovino would change things this time. He would make them right.

"Ah...I wanted to see something over there!" Without allowing Antonio time to protest, Lovino dragged him across the street, over to a row of shops that he didn't even pay attention to. Antonio was asking him confused questions as Lovino tugged him along, but the latter paid no mind, too focused on walking, leaving the horrible place behind and ensuring that Antonio was safe.

When it was behind him, when Lovino could release the breath that had been tightening his chest, he looked up to see where he and Antonio had ended up. There was a dark looking shop nestled into the corner with maps and atlases lining its windows, right next to clocks and strange looking charms and bags tied at the top with rope. It was rather suspicious looking, but it was interesting, so Lovino pushed open the door.

A bell dinged as they entered, but it wasn't in a charming way; rather, it sounded eerie echoing in the shop. No one else appeared to be present, and Lovino looked around warily. It had looked interesting from the outside, but now he was getting a rather strange vibe. Apparently Antonio was sensing the same thing, because he gripped Lovino's arm.

The walls were covered with posters written in languages Lovino could understand, and odd things such as cracked mirrors and rosary beads hanging from nails stuck haphazardly in the walls.

"Why did you want to come here, Lovi…?" Antonio asked.

"Um…" Lovino turned towards the door, scrambling for an excuse. "It, uh, looked cool. Whatever, I think we can go now-"

"Wait."

The voice had come from behind them. Both Lovino and Antonio turned slowly to see someone walking out from behind the counter at the far back of the store. It was a man with blond hair and enormous, bushy eyebrows. He was dressed primly in an argyle sweater and slacks. He didn't exactly radiate an obsession with the occult, but also seemed perfectly at home in the small, dark shop.

"I don't usually get visitors." he explained. "So…" the man paused midway in his sentence, staring at Lovino, and he felt a chill run through his spine. This was strange, this whole thing was too strange, and even though it was far better than the alternative, Lovino was having second thoughts about the little shop.

The man opened his mouth again, then closed it and his eyes briefly. "Are you interested in buying anything?" he finally said.

Antonio spoke up for the both of them. "Ah...no, I think we're good, thank you." He smiled at the man, but he was clearly uneasy too. Antonio, while normally oblivious to everything going on around him, seemed to have picked up on the shop's strange atmosphere.

The man stared at them for a few more moments, appearing contemplative. Then he turned. "Let me give you something commemorative for visiting, then. In hopes that you will come back again."

Antonio and Lovino watched (the former still clinging to Lovino, although he didn't really mind much) as the man headed back to the counter at the back of the store, sifting through random junk before procuring an item and meandering back over to them before presenting it to Lovino.

That was when the feeling hit him; the sensation of his stomach dropping straight through the floor. Lovino felt his hand run through his hair again, his shock showing clear on his face before he managed to get a hold of himself again.

It was an hourglass, but not just any hourglass. The exact same one Lovino had had only hours ago- the one he'd found at the accident. Lovino glanced down at it, then back at the man, who was wearing a strange look. "_Che diavolo-" _

"Lovi, can we leave?" Antonio whined, tugging Lovino towards the door. He complied, but continued to stare down at the hourglass in his hand.

It was a coincidence, wasn't it? It couldn't be a coincidence. Lovino was now thoroughly perturbed, and wanted to do nothing but smash the hourglass to the ground. But something told him that it would be a bad idea, so all he did was clutch it tightly in his fist while shooting glances back into the shop. The blond man who had given it to him, however, had retreated into the back room, and Lovino could no longer see him.

They broke into the sunlight, and immediately Antonio turned towards Lovino, staring curiously at the hourglass. "What's that? Why'd he give you an hourglass? Can I see?"

"No!" Lovino's words pierced the air, sharper and harsher than he meant them to be, and hastily slipped the hourglass into his pocket. He was afraid it would flip over in the act and transport him to some random place in time, but thankfully nothing happened.

Antonio pouted, but it was soon easily replaced with a smile. "All right then, Lovino. Can we just go home now? We need to get started on the tomatoes."

"Sure." Lovino replied, not really paying attention. _As long as it's anywhere but here._

* * *

They had managed to take a different route home that avoided the crosswalk, so Lovino was pleased by that at least. It was starting to darken as they climbed into the car. Lovino had to remind himself not to audibly sigh in relief as he settled in the passenger side. The day was over, and Antonio was fine. He still had lingering doubts about the hourglass, but he figured that he'd probably never know how any of the strange events had happened and it was probably best to leave things be while they were still peaceful. Normally Lovino wouldn't have reacted so passively- he _hated _mysteries, for the most part- but having seen Antonio lifeless and blood-spattered a few days before had shaken him to the point of not caring.

And then they received the phone call.

Just as Antonio was about to start the car, Lovino's phone buzzed, signifying a call from Feliciano. That was slightly strange- Feliciano usually preferred bad-grammared emoticon filled texts- but Lovino didn't think much of it until he heard Feliciano's tear filled voice from the other side.

Instantly Lovino's blood froze; he couldn't imagine what was wrong, but tried to speak calmly to Feliciano. "Feli, what happened?" Over in the driver's seat, Antonio peered at him curiously.

"Lovi-" Feliciano's voice was shaky. "S-something happened to Roderich, and-"

Lovino stiffened. Roderich was the boyfriend of Ludwig's brother, Gilbert, and Lovino had only met him a few times at family gatherings. It wasn't to say that they got off well- Lovino rarely got off well with _anybody_- but while he'd found the musician to be incredibly uptight (and it was puzzling how he and Gilbert had ended up together as well) Lovino had at least decided he wasn't one of the biggest idiots in the room.

And now- now something had happened.

"...he was out getting something a-and at the crosswalk over at…" as soon as Feliciano said that, Lovino stopped hearing. He nearly dropped the phone and thought for a moment he was going to collapse in a movie style faint. All he could catch was "speeding car" "Gilbert" and "tell Antonio" before his mind blanked out completely.

This wasn't supposed to happen, this wasn't how things were supposed to go, and yet Lovino still couldn't process everything. That crosswalk, that car- they had all been there two days ago, except the victim had been Antonio and not Roderich. How did this happen? Why was this happening?

For a moment, Lovino felt like he was Feliciano the day that Antonio had been hit- the day that didn't exist anymore, the one that he had erased from the stream of time. He had just received the news that someone had been killed instantly and tragically by a speeding car, and he had no idea how to deal with it.

And Lovino wanted to scream. Because he didn't know _what _was happening. He'd saved Antonio from being killed by a car only for the exact same thing to happen to someone else- someone he knew.

How did that happen? Did they day require a sacrifice? Was someone _always _going to die, hit by that speeding car?

_No, there has to be a way to change this. After all, I got the hourglass when Antonio died, who's to say someone else didn't get one as well? _

_If not, though…_

"Dios mío…." Lovino looked up, just slightly, only to realize he had dropped the phone and Antonio had picked it up, evidently talking to Feliciano. The Spanish man had left the keys on the seat, their car still stationary in the parking lot, and was holding his head in his hands, eyes closed. For a moment, Lovino felt like he was looking at himself, crouched on the street gripping an hourglass and praying that it was all a mistake.

At least he'd managed to fix _that _mistake.

And then a thought crossed Lovino's mind, a thought that made him feel somewhat ashamed. His hand had slipped into his pocket, almost subconsciously, and he had touched the hourglass. It would be so easy to just let go of the hourglass, to console Antonio and Feliciano while they needed it, to attend a funeral… Antonio was safe and alive next to him, and that was all that mattered, all that he had set out to do, right? And there was nothing he could do to prevent that accident, or at least that was what Lovino tried to tell himself.

And while he also insisted that it wasn't his responsibility to save Roderich or _anybody, _and that saving Antonio was all that he had set out to do, Lovino knew that he was being somewhat selfish. For some reason he'd been given a strange object that would take him back time, and if he could prevent not one but two deaths, what was the harm?

Lovino knew instinctively that messing with the flow of time was probably not a good idea, and considering that he had rewound the clock once already, doing it twice would probably not be a good idea. But he had a certain conviction that this time around, no one would die. It was a simple Saturday afternoon; it wasn't supposed to end up spattered with blood.

Antonio lifted his head to speak to Lovino, turning to see him in the passenger's side only to watch the Italian, with a serious look on his face, turn an hourglass and then vanish.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Fair warning: this chapter is rather confusing. In my head everything makes sense, but it probably comes out as rambling and weird. **

**Also, this was originally planned to be a very short story so we're close to the conclusion. (Like, one more chapter close.) However, I was wondering, would anybody be interested in a bonus chapter or two giving Arthur's story? I hadn't planned to put it in, but…*shrugs***

**Please enjoy! **

Lovino closed his eyes, exhausted; he was glad that the last person in the bus stop had left. He sat on the bench, one hand covering his eyes as to do away with the sunlight pervading his vision and increasing his pounding headache. The other one clutched, desperately, angrily, the hourglass in his lap.

Around him, the air was still, the Saturday afternoon as tranquil and sunny as it had been before. Had it been five times now? Maybe six. Lovino wasn't entirely sure.

Dropping his hand, he swore, and with no one around to hear him, Lovino got particularly creative with his curse words.

When he'd started the whole mess, when he'd turned the hourglass for the first time...Lovino hadn't expected to end up where he was then, sitting at an abandoned bus stop after running away from blood soaked crosswalk.

He'd tried valiantly, to the best of his ability, to stop Antonio or Roderich or anyone from getting hit at that crosswalk. But somehow he couldn't. Inevitably _someone _would get injured by that speeding car, hard as Lovino tried to stop it. He didn't understand it and his head was aching from continually trying to understand it, but it seemed that the day required a sacrifice, and the flow of time wouldn't allow the cycle to end without one.

And Lovino had considered, however briefly, to simply take Antonio and end the cycle before things got out of hand. But every time he found himself biting his lip and becoming consumed with guilt. He was the only one who knew how things ended that Saturday, and the only one aware of how drastically the lives of one person- which would inevitably extend to other people- would change at that crosswalk.

Lovino had no idea how widespread the effects would be, since he was afraid of waiting too long to rewind time and having the hourglass stop working, or simply cease to exist, and lose his chance to fix everything.

That particular afternoon, it had been Antonio again. Lovino had refused to see if; it was too emotionally damaging seeing the scene again. And so he had ran, and somehow ended up at the bus stop. He could change time again, like he always did, but Lovino was exhausted. There had to be a solution, somewhere. But one hadn't presented itself to him. At the end of the Saturday someone had to die.

Staring down at the hourglass in his hand, Lovino had an inkling of a thought, a possible way out of the constantly repeating time. Lovino had no idea of the capabilities of the hourglass, and whether or not his idea would even work, but he had to know. It was the only way out of the nightmare.

* * *

_I_ _promise that I'll definitely save you this time!_

The silence that had descended over the street corner and the small, dark shop was shattered by the tinkling of the bell. It still had an unsettling tune, but it was less so since Lovino had already heard it before.

He'd expected it to be hard to detach himself from Antonio, but in reality he'd hurriedly explained to the Spaniard that there was a place he wanted to be before firmly instructing him to stay put and had then dashed away.

Now he stood before the shop he had visited the second time he had tried to repeat time- the one where he'd received the hourglass from the strange blond man. Lovino's entire plan hinged on the fact that the man would give him another hourglass, as he wasn't in possession of one currently. He was also fairly certain the man was somehow, amongst every other person in the current timeline, the only one who had any idea of the situation he was in.

Lovino's steps slowed as he walked through the shop, suddenly more uncertain with his plan than ever. His gaze wandered over the shelves and walls and cabinets of the shop, all filled with the same strange objects as they had been the first time. Lovino hadn't even bothered to look at the shop's sign in the front, and therefore didn't even have an idea as to what the place was even remotely trying to sell.

What appeared to be old alcohol bottles were melded into strange shapes, some pressed together in a rather disturbing form of artwork. Figurines of some mecha were scattered on the shelves, some of their arms and legs broken off. On the back wall. Lovino noticed some spoons with different designs carved into the handles hanging off the walls.

Glancing up, Lovino realized that he had reached the back counter. He idly looked down at an old cigar box along with all the other objects scattered across the counter. There was a stack of photos there, a few having fluttered down from their perch. _Honestly..._Antonio was plenty messy- it kind of came with his laid-back attitude- and their room was in a constant state of disarray, but the blond man had given the impression of being someone orderly.

Lovino looked down at the scattered photos. Strangely, some were in color while others were sephia. They were mostly coated in dust and Lovino couldn't make out much except for a bespectacled man grinning animatedly. Glancing upward at the counter, Lovino felt a wave of alarm in seeing that no one was there, only to have it quelled slightly when he heard a voice speak behind him. "You came for something?"

There he was again, the blond man with an air of seriousness who had given Lovino the hourglass. The Italian was remarking to himself that he looked exactly the same when he remembered, calling himself an idiot, that _of course _he'd look the same because it was the same day after all.

The man's green eyes appeared to pierce through Lovino, but they weren't the bright shining green shade that Antonio's were. They were bottle green, weary and calculating. Forcing himself to appear calm and completely normal (oh, how _nothing_ was further from the truth) Lovino nodded slightly. "I'd like...an hourglass, please." Saying please wasn't really something Lovino was accustomed to, but he knew that politeness would speed things along instead of arguing.

"An hourglass." the man repeated, appearing unsurprised. "Is that your final choice?"

Feeling as though that wasn't what he was really asking, Lovino tried to brush it off. "J-just give it to me. You know what's going on, don't you?"

The man seemed to contemplate this for a moment before responding. "Even if I do, it's not my place to get involved. You make the decisions, after all. Once the choice is in your hands, I can't do anything about it."  
Lovino gritted his teeth. He knew that time-looping hourglasses went hand-in-hand with cryptic conversations with people exactly like who he was talking to the moment. "_Che diavolo? _Whatever. I just need the hourglass. Please."

Without a word the man retreated to behind the counter and to past a door directly behind that, reappearing moments later with the hourglass in his hands. Lovino hated the sight of the seemingly mundane object, because ever since he'd gotten it he hadn't been able to stop looping. And a lot of it was Lovino's personal choice since he was unsatisfied with the results, but he'd noticed that the hourglass continually presented itself to him, urging him and taunting him to restart again and again. It was the only thing in the way of continuing the normal day.

Taking the hourglass in his hands, feeling the smooth curves of the glass, Lovino glanced up at the blond man who was watching him with an unreadable expression. "What happens if I smash it here right now?"

"Oh, I wouldn't do that." he responded nonchalantly. "It only loops from a moment that spans about three minutes in time. If you smash it here it'll return you to your first result with no way back. The same goes for if you smash it outside of those three minutes. Otherwise it'll eventually convince you to continue looping."

Lovino gritted his teeth. He could guess which minutes the blond man was talking about, and didn't know why everything had to be so bloody complicated. His original idea had been to smash the hourglass in hopes that it would somehow help his situation, along with ending the continuous cycle of repeating days. "So I have to pick a good end and then smash it?"

"Yes." The man responded, picking up a leather bound book from the counter and flicking through it as though he had all the time in the world. Technically, Lovino was the one who did, but he wished that weren't the case.

In the loops that Lovino had gone through, he had tried to avert the accident completely or redone it so that Antonio wouldn't get hit at the exact moment they were at the crosswalk. However, avoiding the crosswalk completely ended up with someone- not always Roderich, but _someone_- getting hit instead, and trying to divert the accident once they were at the crosswalk never worked. Antonio always noticed the car hurtling at them and reacted before Lovino did, even though he was always on attention. He couldn't seem to focus on the exact moment when he was supposed to push Antonio out of the way, and the loops that followed were because of his failures. However...if he could get it right, just one time…

"So smashing it ends the loops?"

The blond man looked up from his book, his distinctive eyebrows raised slightly. "It won't bother you anymore."

Lovino nodded slowly. He had an idea as how to fix the mess he was stuck in, and all he'd needed was the hourglass and a confirmation as to how it worked from the man to enact it. Briefly he considered questioning the man further, as to what he knew about the hourglasses and how, but the more time Lovino spent stuck repeating the same day, the less he wanted to know. He'd never forget, he knew that, but Lovino decided he'd be perfectly content to come up with a solution and try to block out the whole detestable situation.

Clutching the hourglass tightly and then pocketing it as he walked out, Lovino looked up. "Uh….thank you." But by that time, the blond man had already retreated behind the counter, the door shut tightly behind him.

Walking out of the store, Lovino glanced up at the sign of the store to see what it was called. In large, fancy letters it read "KIRKLAND" and in smaller ones below it, "Sonder".

For a few moments Lovino racked his mind, trying to remember what the smaller word meant- because it was definitely familiar, he just couldn't grasp its definition. However, after a few minutes of staring, Lovino remembered, and laughed bitterly. It almost perfectly described why he was in the situation he was in.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here is the short, final chapter, unless I do something with Arthur. Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed or even just looked at this fic! You guys are great ^.^**

The nervous sensation of ice forming slowly in one's stomach was occurring to Lovino as he ad Antonio neared the crosswalk, partially why he was short with Antonio- even shorter than he was usually, which was saying something. _It's gonna be fine, you've got this….oh mio Dio. Mierde, calm down._

Then the moment came when Lovino had to put his plan into action. Making sure Antonio was distracted by one thing or another, Lovino took from the gardening shop bag a small packet of tomato seeds and dropped them on the pavement. Then he and Antonio began to cross.

Lovino frankly thought he was going to throw up but attempted to appear casual and calm as he glanced down at the bag, then, as lightly as he could, said, "Antonio, I think I dropped some seeds on the sidewalk. Can you run back and get them?"  
It did beg the question as to why Lovino couldn't get them himself, but as he had suspected and as it turned out, Antonio only nodded happily and turned and headed back to the sidewalk to fetch the fallen seeds.

The nervousness passed; Lovino felt a certain relief fill his chest until he wanted to laugh out loud. Now Antonio was out of danger for the next few seconds, which is what Lovino needed. There was no one in front of him, which meant that no one else would get hit. Lovino knew that he had a few seconds before the car was bound to come hurtling by, and he was ready for it, meaning that he could jump out of the way. Somehow, he'd won. The whole nightmare was over.

And then the phrase "hit me like a brick" happened almost literally as Lovino remembered the hourglass, and how he had to smash it to keep the true ending. Panic overtook him as he fumbled for it in his pocket, praying and hoping that his minutes weren't up and that he had enough time before he hurled it to the ground, hearing the shatter and watching with satisfaction as glass shards and sand went everywhere. Breathing heavily, Lovino finally felt calm. Now he'd done it, now it was all over and he'd won-

Lovino barely had time to think as the car slammed into his body and the whole world disappeared.


End file.
